Wind-wheel or propeller.



W. R. MARTIN.

WIND WHEEL 0R PROPELLER.

APPLICATION IILBD 0011.25, 1912.

1,078,157. I Patented ov. 11, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

17/2927 .zg j 4 imam);

J Attorneys Witnesses w. R. MARTIN. WIND WHEEL 0R PBQPEL Eg. APPLIOATIOF FILED 001. 25'; 1912.

1 1,078,157. PatentedN0v.11,1913.

IIOEMQIZZ'I Inventor Attorneys WILLIAM R. LMARTIN, OF IDAHO FEAzIIES, FI'DAHO.

WIND-WHEEL on. .PRoP-ELLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

iEaterrtedNov. 1-1,-I91-3.

Application filed'Octo-cer 25, '19I2. Seri-a'l No. 727,803.

To all whom zt-may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM 'R. MARTIN, a citizen of the United'States, residing at Idaho Falls, in the county of Bonneville and State of Idaho, have invented a new-and useful 'VVind-VVheel or Propeller, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wind wheels or propellers, its object being to provide a wheel or propeller having feathering wings whereby the wheel, when rotating either in a horizontal or in a vertical plane will operate either to propel an airship or'to perform the functions of an ordinary wind wheel such as used for operating pumps and the like.

Another objectfis to provide simple and compact mechanism whereby the wings of the wheel are automatically shifted to active and to feathering position during-the rotaframes 4. These connectionslO are so protion of the whee Another object ist-o provide means where-Z bythe wings can be caused-to shift to active positions at any desired point in-the circular; v

'wa rdly'so as to pull ta-ut the wires or connections '7 attached thereto.

path in which they travel.

With the foregoing and other objects in? view which'will appear as the description; proceeds, the invention residesin the com-i 'bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment o'f the invention herein disclosed, c'anbe made within the scopeof what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the ,preferred form of the inventionhas'been shown. In said drawings :-Figure l is a bottom plan view of the device arranged to rotate in a horizontal plane. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, thereof, the supporting structure being shown 1n section. Fig. 3 1s a sectlon 011 line A-B Fig. 2.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 and 1 designate upper and lower beams respectively constituting part of the supporting structure and in these beams are journa'led trunnions 2 and 3 ex tending from the center of the wheel. The wheel is preferably made up of two similar oblong frames 4 which cross at their centers and are "fixedly connected. Each frame is provided, with cross rods 5 on which are hung wings 6 which can beformed oflight sheet metal, of heavy fabric, or ofany other will lap and present a face.

ends of the "opposed arms 9 desiredmaterial. Connecting wiresYor the like are secured to the-ends of thefreeredges ofthe w1ngs'6 of each series so that, when the""wires are pulled inwardly toward the center of the wheel, allof the wings 6 con nected to them will "be swung inwardlyinto the .frame 4:. The wings when thus arranged fbroad plane or sur- A" block "8 .is .mounted "for rotation within each'frames closeto theinnermost wingb in the frame and extendingfromreach lolock 8 are parallelsarmsitl which are secured .to the the wheel an'dtheouter ends o'feach pair .of

arms '9 are connected to the corresponding by means of cables 10 or .the'like extending within the portioned"that, when one arm 9 is swung "outwardly away from the wheel, the other arm "9 opposed'thereto will be drawn 'in- A shaft llis j on rnaled within each .frame 4- close tothe innermost Wing'Gin the frame and extending from each shaft is a crank arm 12 carrying an anti-friction roller 13. Another arm 14 extends "from the inner end of shaft 11 -andis connected, 'bymeans oifza cable '15 or the"like,to the block 8 the frame carrying the shaft "11 of said .arm. This cable '15 is attached tothe outer surface of the block'8'so that, whenarm 14 isswung inwardly toward the center of the wheel, the connection'15 will pull onblock-B and tend 'to rotate it, thereby causing the arms '9 on sald block to swing outwardly and ,pull, through the connections "10, upon the opposite arms9. All of the arms 14 are preferably extended "in'the' direction ofrotation of the wheel while the arms'12are extended 1n .theo'ppo-site direction. The anti-friction rollers 13 bear upon the periphery of ,a volute cam'16 which: is'moun'ted for rotation upon the trunnion 8. 'This cam, however, is normally held against rotation by means of a rod 17 which is pivotally connectedthereto and to a controllingdever 18,pi-vot'al ly mounted upon one of the beams l. suitable means such as a 'toothedsegment 19 maybe providedfor use in securing lever 18 against swinging movement and, conse the frames 4 move into planes parallel or substantially parallel with the line of flight, the rollers 13 moving therewith trip over the shoulder 20 of the cam 16, thus permitting the arms '14, which are shiftable with the rollers 13, to swing outwardly from the center of the wheel. The connection 15 attached to the outwardly swinging arm 14, allows the arm 9 to Which it is attached to swing inwardly toward the center of the wheel. This inward swinging movement is produced by the connection 10 which is attached to the free end of the opposed arm 9' which arm is caused to swing outwardly by the connection 15 which is attached to another arm 14:, the roller 13 of which is riding upon the-periphery of the volute cam and being swung outwardly away from the center of the wheel. Thus it will be seen that as the wheel rotates, the sets of wings 6 are successively shifted to closed or active posit-ions and two adjoining sets are constantly thus arranged so that the said sets will displace air rearwardly and cause the machine to which the propeller is attached to be driven forward. The wings of the opposedsets, being unrestrained, will be free to; swing to open position so as to feather and permit air currents to pass between them. By shifting lever 18 rod 17 will cause the volute cam to rotate about its trunnion 3 and thus shift the position of the shoulder 20 so as to change the points in the circular path of the wings where the wings are to be shifted to active posit-ions.

Obviously the wheel can be mounted upon a transverse horizontal axis for the purpose of propelling and, instead of utilizing the wheel as a propeller, it can be employed to receive the force of air currents so as to drive a pump or other mechanism.

In order to compensate for the relative movement of the arms 14 and blocks 8, each connection 15 preferably includes a coiled spring, such asshown at 21 so that it is thus possible for the'connection to elongate when necessary to prevent breakage of any parts.

What is claimed is 1', A wheel of the class described includ ing radially disposed series of wings, flexible connections between the wings of each series, a stationary cam, pivotally mounted arms for actuating the respective series of wings, connections between opposed arms of the wheel, means engaging an shiftable by the cam, and yielding devices operated by the respective meansfor actuating the respective arms and shifting the wings.

2. A wheel of the class described including radial series of feathering wings, a pivoted arm connected to each series, a connection between every two opposed arms, a stationary cam, and means engaging and movable upon the cam for successively swinging each arm outwardly to open the wings adjacent thereto and to pull, through its connection, upon the opposed arm, thereby to close the wmgs adjacent said opposed arm, said means including a yielding element.

3. A wheel of the class described including radial series of feathering wings, a pivoted arm connected to each series, a connection between every two opposed arms, a stationary cam, a shaft mounted for rotation adjacent each series of wings, an arm upon the shaft and bearing against the cam, a second arm upon each shaft, and a yieldin connection between said last named arm an the adjacent pivoted arm, said cam, arms and connections operating to successively swing each pivoted arm outwardly to open the wings adjacent thereto and to pull, through the'connections between the arms,

upon the opposed pivoted arm to close the wings adjacent thereto.

41A wheel of the class described including radially disposed frames, a series of wings carried by each frame, connections between the wings of each series, an arm pivotally mounted within each frame and connected to the wings in thenext adjoining frame, a stationary cam, a connection between each arm and the opposed arm, and means carried by each frame and engaging and movable upon the cam for actuating the arms in adjacent frames, through their connections, to close the wings in the frame of said cam engaging means, said means including a yielding element.

5. A wheel of the class described including connected frames mounted forrotation about a common axis, a series of wings between opposed arms, shafts journaled In testimony that I claim the foregoing within the frames, arlns movable therewith, as my own, I have hereto aifixed my signaylelding connections between said last ture in the presence of two witnesses.

named arms and the adjacent pivoted arms WILLIAM R. MARTIN; a cam, arms extending from the shafts and Witnesses: bearing on the cam, and means for adjust- F. R. BECKER, ing the cam angularly. ADAM S-AUnn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

' Washington, D. C. 

